Learning to drive is an exciting milestone, but the evidence is clear; the first months of driving alone are the most dangerous for young drivers. Inexperience, night-time driving and distractions from friends all increase the risk of serious collisions.
The Government has launched a public consultation asking how learner drivers can be better prepared before they take their practical driving test and asks important questions about learning time, milestones and experience, and your answers matter.
What the consultation is asking:
- Whether learners should have more time between passing their theory test and taking a practical test.
- Whether there should be a minimum number of supervised driving hours.
- Whether a clear learning syllabus or milestones would help young drivers gain experience.
- How learning could better cover different road types and conditions.
How you can make your voice count
We encourage everyone to:
- Answer the consultation questions about learning time, experience, and preparation.
- Use the free text comment section at the end to share views on risk factors like night- time driving and driving with similar-aged passengers and what else could further protect young drivers.
Data for Essex supports national research showing that young drivers are most at risk when driving at night, with similar-aged passengers, or when distracted.
- Fatal and serious collisions involving young drivers are twice as likely to involve speed, compared to those involving drivers aged 25 and over.
- 17.4% of crashes involving under 24s happen between 10pm and 4am, even though the vast majority of journeys are in the daytime.
- Driving with similar-aged passengers increases distraction and collision risk.
Other countries address this through Graduated Driving Licensing, which introduces driving freedoms in stages as experience grows. The Safer Essex Roads Partnership (SERP) supports the concept of Graduated Driver Licensing (GDL) as a proven measure to reduce road deaths and serious injuries amongst young drivers. In fact, evidence from countries where GDL has been implemented shows a reduction in young driver fatalities by up to 40%.
While this is not included this in the consultation, there is space for the public to say they would support it being explored in the future. If you would like to support the Government going further and exploring Graduated Driving Licensing, you can say so there.
The consultation is open until 11:59pm on 31 March 2026, share you views today: Introducing a minimum learning period for learner drivers – GOV.UK
